Several people have provided help with establishing LewisAire Virtual Airlines, and to them I express
my extreme and sincere gratitude. I have to be honest...recognizing everyone was a bigger challenge than I had imagined. You see, being the thoughtful soul that I am, I wanted everyone to feel they were ranked evenly in terms of importance, so my first list looked something like this...
Obviously, that wasn't going to work, so I had to settle for creating a readable list and hope that everyone understands it isn't organized by level of involvement or significance; if you helped with LewisAire and you're on this list (or even if you're someone I haven't added yet), your efforts are recognized and appreciated same as with anyone else who did.
Eugene Heyert - Eugene brought to us the DeHavilland DHC-3 Super Otter; an airplane that performs superbly and is a staple in the LewisAire fleet. Eugene also created the beautiful LewisAire livery, for which I am especially grateful...fantastic job, Eugene!
PY & Associates - I think most of us realize that someone, somewhere has to make "The Button" do what it does. Most functions are not magic, and they didn't come with built in control logic, whether we're talking about a flight instrument or any other automated function that helps us all to have fun. This type of "Behind-the-Button" work requires special skills; it's generally difficult, time consuming, and intense...and more often than not it's a thankless effort. Well, it's not thankless here at LewisAire, and such is the case with recognizing a great fellow named KC from PY & Associates. KC is helping to compile an automated Operations program that will allow me to track your every move! HAHAHA!...great work, KC! Just kidding, folks, but this Operations program will surely help us all in the long-term. However, getting KC into the cockpit is another issue altogether, and I may have to call on some of you for help with that.
Jim Bertelson - Jim is a tremendous asset to LewisAire, and deserves recognition of the highest order! He paints airplanes, does scenery, and is always there when someone needs help. Quite truthfully, I feel a small sense of sorrow for those who do not have a Jim Bertelson in their ranks...But not sorrowful enough to give him away, so forget it, you other guys!
Brian Gladden - We wouldn't have much of an airline without airplanes, would we? And we wouldn't keep pilots very long if our aircraft were cumbersome clunks, would we? Well, nobody in the business does a better job of designing FS airplanes than Brian, and we certainly owe great thanks for his cooperation in allowing LewisAire to use some of his birds.
Mike Stone - Do I really need to remind anyone that this guy is a living legend in the Flight Simulator community? Nah! If you take a moment to browse our fleet, you'll quickly see that we wouldn't be in business without the kind support I got from Mike Stone and others like him, period. His aircraft are designed well, they're equipped well, and they're ideally suited to LewisAire operations. And Mike was kind enough to let us use them. A word to Mike: "I'm done pillaging; unless there are other birds on your great website (www.pmstone.com) that we can use!"
Don Moser - Don has allowed us to use his little Cessna-150 floatplane, and I have one thing to say: "Don, that little creature flies like a dream and is a bigger hit than you might imagine! Absolutely perfect for some of our operations. On second thought, I have two things to say: If you happen to have a C-150 on regular wheels that is designed as well as you did with the floatie..." Thanks for letting us use it, Don." By the way, Don has a great website (http://www.avsim.com/genav/genav_001.htm) and we encourage everyone to go pay him a visit! Also, rumor has it that his Alaska Bush Charter VA may again be operational one day, and we hope you visit that as well.
Chuck Dome - Chuck brought us the Beech Duke-60, which happens to be one of my personal favorite birds to fly. I have to tell you something funny about Chuck: The README file with the B-60 left me feeling that I'd probably end up with a bucket of bolts..."I'm not a designer, I just started doing this...blah-blah". And then I installed the aircraft. Chuck, you can call yourself an airplane designer from now on...that thing is a pure dream!
Ivan (Max) Kovacevic - Max took my dream of a wilderness bush-flying airline and turned it into reality. In the beginning, we argued like maniacs over choosing a location that was ideal, but in the end we settled on the present location, and Max carved the beautiful hub we call Wilburville and LewisAire out of that wilderness. In all likelihood, we wouldn't exist without Max's early efforts. Max also helped a great deal with website issues early on...My special thanks go out to you, pal.
Ardie (RD) Tingler - Ardie came to my rescue, helping tremendously with website graphics, and especially with the enhancement of the Wilburville scenery. We now have many features that didn't exist, and I'm sure that many people will thank him as time goes on. As you spend time with LewisAire, you'll be shocked to learn that this was Ardie's very first attempt at such extensive scenery work! Beautiful job, pal!
SurClaro Forum - I extend personal thanks to all those on the Forum who were instrumental in providing advice along the way. It made a difference, and I'm grateful to all of you.
Andy Nott - Andy is a professional FS painter from England who painted several of the LewisAire birds.
Have I forgotten anyone? LewisAire is growing and obviously we need new equipment to facilitate that growth, so we're always on the hunt for something that will help make LewisAire a truly unique operation. Which means that perhaps I have used your gauge, panel, switch, or whatever...because I found it to be a special component worthy of what I was looking for. In most cases, I do my best to get approval from original authors before using something, but we all know that sometimes it's impossible to do that, for any number of reasons. If LewisAire is using something created by you, without your consent, the following rules apply:
1. You created something special...we enjoy and appreciate your efforts every single time that aircraft
is used. Please be flattered, not insulted.
2. If you prefer that your component is not used in LewisAire, let me know: garry@lewisaire.com and it
will be removed immediately.
3. If we're using something you created, then you deserve recognition, and the only reason your name
may not be on this list is because perhaps your component was part of a consolidated project that did
offer consent, or perhaps I could not reach you...or perhaps I simply overlooked it. In any case, it
was not intentional; send me an email and identify yourself, and you will get proper recognition for
your efforts.